Knife-sharpening apparatus.



PATENTED JULY 3; 1906.

'H. H. CUMMINGS. KNIFE SHARPENING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21 1904.

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Jm @K was NORRIS PETERS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

KNIFE-SHARPENING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 3, 1906 Application filed November 21,1904. Serial No. 233.598.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY H. CUMMINGS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Newton Center, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Knife Sharpening Apparatus, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object the pro duction of a novel knife-sharpening apparatus which may be used for sharpening a knife, scissors, or other blade.

My invention comprises a casing containing a Whetstone or other abrasive material, upon which may be rubbed the blade to be sharpened. This stone is normally contained within the casing, but may be automatically exposed, that the knife-blade may be put thereupon by dropping a coin into a coin-chute connected with the casing. W'hen a coin is dropped into the coin-chute, the surface of the stone may be brought immediately into operative position, and it remains there for a predetermined perioda time long enough to enable an ordinary knifeblade to be sharpened-when the stone is returned automatically within the casing.

Figure 1 in perspective shows an apparatus embodying my invention. Fig. 2 shows the apparatus with one of the side plates of the casing removed. Fig. 3 is a section in the line as, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional detail of the controlling means to be described. Fig. 5 shows the upper end of the piston-rod and its attached arm. Fig. 6 is a view of the piston-head below the dotted line 90 Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a view of the right-hand end of the stone-carrier, and Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail showing part of the casing and the rack locked in its elevated position.

The casing A comprises, as shown, a back a piece a, a body made 1n two pieces a. a

united by screws a a door or removable side anel a (see Figs. 1 and. 3,) having a suitable lock, the keyhole-hub a of which is shown in Fig. 1, and a small cover-plate a, having a slot (17 for the reception ofthe coin to be fed into the apparatus that the stone to be described may be put into its operative position.

The parts (1 and a of the casing sustain a shaft 1), with which is attached by a set-screw I) a carrier b cut out at one side to receive a Whetstone or other abrasive capable of be ing used to sharpen the blade of a knife or other article, said stone being confined in said carrier,'as shown, by a screw b*. at its outer end has a stop C, shown as a pin, that abuts a shoulder 10 (shown in Fig. 1) at one side of the top of the part a when the carrier occupies its inoperative position, said stop meeting the opposite shoulder 12 when the stone has been turned into its operative position. The shaft b has an attached toothed wheel b that is engaged by the teeth of a carrier-actuator, shown as a rack-bar c, slidable in guides c 0 attached inside the back a and having an ear 0, with which is connected a spring 0*", the lower end of which is attached to an eye (See Fig. 2.) The ear receives the upper end def a piston-rod (1, provided with a head (1 that fits the interior of a cyl-' inder (1 which in practice is filled with a nonfreezable liquid, as glycerin or oil.

The end (Z of the piston-rod after having been inserted in the ear 0" receives a nut (1*, which connects the piston with the actuator. The head of the piston has a hole, the upper side of which is normally closed by a valve, shown as a ball (Z the extent of the upward movement of said ball being determined by a metallic loop d. (See Figs. 4 and 6.)

The head has a port (F, that may be closed more or less by a regulator 61 shown as adjustably held in a cross-arn1 (1, carried by the piston-rod d. The back of the casing has a carrier-locking device e, connected therewith. by a screw 6, said locking device being shown as a spring having a lug e inturned at its up: per end and adapted to engage the lower end of the raclebar, as shown in Fig. 8, when the latter has been elevated, as will be described. The lower end of the locking device is notched to embrace a stud 6 outside the upturned in: ner end f of a bent arm or lever f, having a second arm f on which the lower end of the cylinder (1- rests when the carrier and stone occupy their inoperative position.

The carrier The inner end of the carrier b 'has a notch ITO , abhorrence 0 lever occupies normally a position in the top of the slot 9 and across the passage-way 1n the chute, so that a coin dropped into the money-opening to travel down the slot andbe discharged therefrom at its lower end in a moneybox, which will be set into the casing and be accessible only after taking off or opening the door, will strike the lever 8 8 and turn the same about its pivot. As the movement of the lever is started by the coin, the link 6 through the eccentric stud moves the radius-bar to release the carrier, that it may be turned in the direction of the arrow by the person desiring to sharpen the knife or other blade and bring the stone to the top of the case, said person engaging the hand-stud c. As the carrier is turned the wheel b in engagement with the rack c lifts the same until the lower end of the rack passes above the lip e of the spring e, and thereafter said lip is permitted, as will be described, to pass under the rack and hold the same up, looking the carrier in its operative position with the stone exposed to be acted upon by the blade being sharpened. As the rack is lifted the piston-rod with its head in the lower end of the cylinder, as shown, the cylinder being more or less filled above said head by a sluggish fluid, as glycerin or oil, is also lifted, thus removing the weight of the cylinder from the lever f, which permits the shorter arm f of said lever interposed between the back and the lower end of the spring 6 and serving through the lever f when supporting the cylinder to hold back the end 6 of the spring to be moved toward the back under the action of said spring until the end 6 passes under the end of the rack, as in Fig. 8. As stated, the rack and the filled cylinder are raised when putting the carrier and its stone in operative position, and these parts will remain in their operative position for a period of time predetermined by the adjustment of the device (i for it will be understood that the head of the piston rod covered with the sluggish liquid in the cylinder also lifts the cylinder with it and holds ufp the cylinder through natures a vacuum below the head (1 The lifted cylinder will, however, begin to descend on the piston as the sluggish liquid above the head trickles by gravity through the port and after a length of time, predetermined by the adjustment of the device (i the cylinder finally meets the end f of the lever and turns the same sufficiently to cause the arm f thereof acting against the locking device e to move the same and remove the art e from its engagement with the bar, and this done spring 0 immediately acts to depress the rack and piston, the rack restorf, and it will be understood that my invention is not limited to exactly the construction shown for these several means, but includes any equivalent means within the scope of the claims. When the lever 8 8 is turned by a coin, the part.8 is depressed sufiiciently to be engaged by a catch 18, that acts to maintain the radius-bar or holder in its inoperative position out of engagement with the notch 2 until the carrier is turned to lace the stone in its operative position,

an as the rack-bar is lifted, as described,

the ear 0* meets the free end of the outturned part of the arm 8 of said lever-projecting from the slot in the coin-chute and lifts said arm from its engagement with the catch, which immediately permits the free end of the radius-bar to contact with the end of the carrier.

Having fullydescribed my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In apparatus of the class described, a carrier having astone, means to hold the carrier with the stone in its inoperative position, and means to disengage the carrier-holding means that the carrier may be turned to expose the stone.

2. In apparatus of the class described, a carrier having a stone, carriercontrolling means comprising a rock-bar moved by said carrier when the carrier is being moved to put the stone in its operative position, said rackbar cooperating with a pinion mounted upon the carrier-shaft, and means to lock said controlling means in position to thereby maintain the carrier and its stone in operative position.

3. In apparatus of the class described, a carrier having a stone, carrier-controlling means moved by said carrier when the carrier is being moved to put the stone in its operative position, and means to lock said controlling means in position to thereby maintain the carrier and its stone in operative position, and fluid-operated means acting at a predetermined time to move said locking means to release the controlling means that the same may be moved to return the carrier and stone into their inoperative position.

4. In apparatus of the class described, a carrier having a stone, carrier-controlling means moved by said carrier when the car-- rier is being moved to put the stone in its operative position, means to lock said controlling means in position to thereby maintain the carrier and its stone in operative position, means acting at a predetermined time to move said locking means to release the controlling means, and spring-actuated means to move the controlling means and turn the carrier and stone into their inoperative position.

5. In apparatus of the class described, a carrier having a stone, carrier-controlling means moved by said carrier when the carrier is being moved to put the stone in its operative position, means to lock said controlling means in position to thereby maintain the carrier and its stone in operative position, means acting at a predetermined time to move said locking means to release the controlling means, means to move the controlling means and turn the carrier and stone into their inoperative position, and a holding device to engage and maintain the carrier and stone in their inoperative position.

6. In apparatus of the class described, a carrier having a stone, a coin-chute, an overbalanced lever having a part thereof interposed across said chute, a holder operating normally to retain the carrier and stone in their inoperative position, means interposed between said lever and holder to move the latter to disengage the holder and permit movement of the carrier when said lever is moved.

7. In apparatus of the class described, a carrier having a stone, a coin-chute, an overbalanced lever having a part thereof interposed across said chute, a holder operating normally to retain the carrier and stone in their inoperative position, means interposed between said lever and holder to move the latter to disengage the holder and permit movement of the carrier when said lever is moved, and means to engage said lever and retain the holding device in its inoperative position until after the movement of the carrier has been commenced.

8. In apparatus of the class described, a carrier having a stone, a coin-chute, an overbalanced lever having a part thereof interposed across said chute, a holder operating normally to retain the carrier and stone in their inoperative position, means interposed between said lever and holder to move the latter to disengage the holder and permit movement of the carrier when said lever is moved, means to engage said lever and retain the holding device in its inoperative position until after the movement of the carrier has been commenced, and controlling means having an ear to remove said lever from engagement with the catch temporarily holding the same after the carrier has been started in its movement to place the stone in its operative position, the release of said lever permitting the free end of the holding device to approach and contact with the carrier that it may stop and lock the carrier when the same is again returned into its inoperative position.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY H. CUMMINGS.

Witnesses:

GEO. W. GREGORY, MARGARET A. DUNN. 

